Book History Timeline

c. 2400 BC Earliest surviving papyrus scrolls.

c. 650 Papyrus scroll introduced into Greece from Egypt.
c. 400-300 Silk writing materials employed in China.
295 Alexandria Library founded.
c. 100 Vegetable-fiber paper developed in China.
1st Cent. AD MS. book format shifts from scroll to codex.
c. 370 Rome estimated to have 28 libraries.
610 Papermaking introduced into Japan from China.
c. 700 Paper sizing developed in Asia.
c. 750-800 Papermaking reaches Central Asia and Middle East.
868 Diamond Sutra published in China, earliest extant example
of woodblock printing.
875 Arab travelers mentioning having seen toilet paper in China.
896 Oldest extant manuscript featuring colophon.
c. 1041-48 Pi Shng develops movable type in China, amalgam of clay
and glue.
11th Cent. Papermaking reaches Moorish Spain.
1255 Paper mill established in Genoa.
1276 Watermarked paper introduced in Tuscany at Fabriano
Mills.
1337 Earliest known use of paper sizing in Europe.
1373 Bibliotheque Nationale founded in Lyons.
c. 1400 Printing with movable copper types in Korea.
1403 Company of Stationers founded in London.
1418 Earliest extant example of woodblock printing in Europe.
1430 Earliest extant examples of xylographic of block books.
1454 Gutenberg prints indulgences on lead-based movable type
with a textura face in Mainz.
1456 Gutenberg prints Bible.
1457 Psalmorum Codex published by Fust and Schoffer in Mainz;
first extant printed book with colophon; also Mainz Psalter,
earliest example of color printing.
c. 1460 Mentelin established press in Strasbourg.
1465 First printed book in Italy.
1466 Ulrich Zell establishes press in Cologne.
1467 First use of roman type face in printed book.
1470 Gering prints first book in Paris.
1472 Wendelin de Spira of Venice begins using type with a

rotunda face.
1476 Caxton establishes press in Westminster.
1477 Monte sancto di Dio published in Florence, the first printed
book to include engraved illustrations.
c. 1485 Schwabacher branch of bastarda face emerges.
ENG 5933: History of the Book (Fall 2007)
1493 Earliest extant books containing etchings.
1495 John Tate establishes first English paper mill in
Hertfordshire.
1498 Ottaviano Petrucci of Venice develops types for printing
music.
1500 Printing established in more than 250 European cities.
c. 1500 First italic font cut for Aldus Manitius by Francesco Griffo.
c. 1512 Fraktur branch of bastarda face emerges.
1513 Richard Faques publishes The Trewe Encountre in London,
the earliest extant English news-book.
1534 Cambridge University Press founded; first book printed 1583.
1539 First North American Press established in Mexico City.
1557 Robert Granjon of Lyons publishes first book printed with
types featuring Civilit face.
1557 London Stationers Company granted royal charter.
1559 Index Librorum Prohibitorum ordered by Paul IV.
1575-80 First North American paper mill, southeast of Mexico City.
1586 Star Chamber decree confirming Oxford Universitys right to
print books.
1588 John Spilman establishes first successful mill producing
white paper in England.
1593 Earliest known European printing in Philippine Islands.
1609 First newspaper, Avisa Relation oder Zeitung, issued in
Strasbourg.
1621 First English newspaper, The Corante.
1639 First press in North American British colonies, Cambridge,
MA.
1642 Mezzotint process invented by Ludwig von Siegen.
1653 First North American public library founded in Boston.
1663 Licensing Act establishes legal copyright and codifies
practice of deposit library in England.
1673 Hollander pulp-making machine invented.
1683-4 Joseph Moxon publishes Mechanick Exercises on the Whole

Art of Printing. First printing manual.

1690 First North American newspaper, Publick Occurrences,
published in Boston, MA. Suppressed after one issue.
1690 Paper mill established near Germantown, PA.
1695 Expiration of the Licensing Act of 1663.
1699 150 working paper mills in England.
c. 1700 First substantial books printed from stereotyped plates.
1702 First daily English newspaper, Daily Courant. Survives 30
years.
1705 First successful North American newspaper, the Boston News
Letter.
1709 Copyright Act limits terms of copyright protection in
England.
1734 Aquatint process invented by Jean-Baptiste Le Prince.
1739 William Ged experiments with stereotype plates made from
plaster-of-Paris molds.
1752 First Canadian newspaper, Halifax Gazette.
1753 British Museum founded.
1755 James Whatman builds wove hand-made paper moulds for
Baskerville.
1758 First known forgeries of English banknotes.
1774 House of Lords invalidates Copyright Act of 1709.
1788 First press imported to Australia.
1790 William Nicholson registers first patents for his cylinder
printing press.
1793 France sets copyright protection for two years after authors
death.
1798-9 Louis-Nicolas Robert invents first paper-making machine.
1798 William Stanhope builds first iron press.
1798 Alois Senefelder invents lithography.
1800 Library of Congress founded.
1804 Henry and Sealy Fourdrinier buy patent for Robert papermaking
machine, the basis for the Fourdrinier machine.
1809 John Dickinson registers first patents for his cylinder papermaking
machine.
1810 185 working paper mills in the US.
1812 Friedrich Koenig perfects first steam-powered, flat-bed-andcylinder
press.
1814 The Times (London) prints first issue using Koenig press, 29

November, 1,000 impressions per hour.

1816 Koenig adds perfector to his press.
1822 Dr. William Church patents first cold-metal composing
machine.
1825 First dandy rolls used in paper making, built by John
Marshall.
1827 Cowper & Applegate develop four-cylinder steam press
capable of 4,000-5,000 impressions per hour.
1829 William Austin Burt invents early typewriter.
1829 First stereotype plates made from flong molds used in Lyons.
c. 1830 Isaac and Seth Adams manufacture bed-and-platen machine
press.
c. 1830 Hopkinson and Cope manufacture double-platen machine
press.
1833 Daguerreotype process invented.
ENG 5933: History of the Book (Fall
1835 Robert Baxter registers patent for letterpress color printing
process.
c. 1840 Electrotype process developed.
1841 Tauchnitz introduces line of paperback editions.
1843 Mechanically-processed wood pulp used for paper making in
Germany.
1846 Richard Hoe patents horizontal rotary press.
1853 Mechanically-processed wood pulp used for paper making in
England.
1863 William Bullock patents reel-fed rotary printing machine.
1868 The Times (London) installs Walter press that prints on
continuous roll of paper.
1870s Chemically-produced wood pulp introduced to paper making.
1875 JGA Eickhoff builds four-cylinder perfecting press.
1878 Remington introduces typewriter featuring shift key for
upper-case letters.
1886 Ottmar Mergenthaler invents Linotype hot metal composing
machine.
1886 Berne Convention establishes international reciprocity of
copyright protection.
1887 The New York Tribune begins using Linotype for
composition.
1889 Tolbert Lanston produces first Monotype composing machine.

1892 The Bibliographical Society founded in London.

1904 Ira Rubel develops first commercial lithographic system for
printing on paper.
1904 The Bibliographical Society of America founded in New York.
1935 IBM markets Electromatic, first successful electric
typewriter.
1938 Chester F. Carlson invents xerography.
1945 Monotype Corp. introduces Intertype Fotosetter, the first
phototypesetter.
1955 Universal Copyright Convention establishes copyright
protection for 50 years after authors death.
1959 Xerox markets first xerographic photocopier.
1967 OCLC founded.
1975 IBM introduces first laser printer.
1983 RBS founded.
1995 Jeff Bezos founds Amazon.com.
1995 Instabook applies for print-on-demand technology patent.
1997 International copyright protection extended to 70 years after
authors death.
2004 Google announces Google Print project.